More Than Just Friends - A Chazz Princeton Oneshot
by rizanicole
Summary: My first Chazz Princeton one shot. Over two and a half years on Quizilla, this one got over 1,000 reads, which I think makes it the most popular thing I've ever written. Hopefully, that means it's good! Please review and let me know what you think! **Originally published on Quizilla 06/11/2012**


I pulled my dorm room key out of my pocket and put it in the lock, jiggling it around for a bit before I got in. Once I had opened the door and entered the pleasantly air-conditioned room, I let out a sigh.

'That was an utter disaster,' I thought to myself as I turned around and closed the door. Seeing that the room appeared to be empty, I climbed up onto the top bunk and sat down on my bed to think about what had just happened and, more importantly, what I was going to do about it.

Just as my thoughts had begun, they were interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. Chazz Princeton stepped through into the main part of our dorm. When he saw me, he seemed a little surprised. "Oh, hey Jessica. I didn't expect you to be back so soon."

Did I forget to mention that Chazz Princeton is my roommate? I know, I know, it's weird for a girl and a guy to be roommates, but Duel Academy had run out of dorms and the numbers fell out so that, if Chazz and I both wanted to stay at the school, we had to room together. It was actually pretty interesting how it all happened...

 _Flashback_

At the start of the year, it seemed that everyone had recieved information about who they would room with except for me. Since I was starting to get worried, I decided to go talk to Crowler about it. He wasn't my favorite teacher, but it seemed like he had the most power. When I got to his office and opened the door, I found that Chazz was already in there, shouting about something.

"What the heck do you mean? I can't room with _her_! I demand that I get a room to myself!"

Crowler seemed frustrated when he responded, as if this conversation had been going on for a long time. "I'm sorry, Chazz, but if you want to stay at this school, you're just going to have to get over it. You don't have a choice in the matter." Just then, Crowler caught sight of me standing in the back of his office. "Ah, see! Here's your new roommate now."

Upon hearing his words, I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "'New roommate?'" I repeated, trying to comprehend what he was saying. "You mean that me," I pointed to myself, "and him," I pointed to Chazz, "are going to have to _share a dorm_?"

"Yes, Miss Wallace, that's exactly what I mean. You see, the number of students ended up this year so that we had to put a boy and a girl in a dorm together to fit all of the students."

I walked forward to stand in front of Crowler's desk next to Chazz. "That's fine and good and all, Professor," I said, trying to sound respectful. "But frankly, Chazz and I hate eachother. One of us'll be dead by the end of the first week if we have to live in the same room." Chazz nodded his head emphatically in agreement. It was true; I couldn't stand how arrogant he was, and he couldn't stand how I called him out for it.

"Yes, well, we actually chose to stick you two together because of your... antagonism towards each other." Chazz and I both looked at him confused, so he explained. "We didn't want to put together any two students who could possibly develop... um... 'romantic feelings' for each other, to avoid obvious complications." I rolled my eyes at Crowler's statement, and Chazz blushed a tiny bit after he figured out our teacher's meaning.

I sighed and turned to face Chazz, arms crossed over my chest. "Well, Princeton, there's no way I'm leaving this school, so I guess we're stuck together." Chazz nodded at me begrudgingly. "Yeah, I'm not leaving, either."

"Does that mean you both agree to this arrangement?" Crowler asked. Chazz and I both nodded. "Good. Now, go move in. I've had a long day." And with that, he shooed us out of his office.

On the way to the dorm, Chazz tried to bribe me into leaving the school. "Please," he begged, "I'll pay you any amount of money to transfer somewhere else."

"I already told you no, Chazz! All my friends are here, and I'm not about to leave just because you don't want me as a roommate."

He huffed angrily, and the rest of the walk to our new room was spent in silence.

 _End Flashback_

In a few weeks, Chazz and I had worked out an order/schedule to the room and learned to tolerate each other. It definitely helped that, for the most part, we had the same group of friends. And as the months went by, though neither of us had seen it coming, we became friends ourselves, and at this point, I think we're both glad to have the other person as a roommate.

I snapped myself out of my memories to finally answer Chazz. "Yeah, Zane and I sort of had a... disagreement, so I decided to come back here." I paused for a moment before questioning him in return. "What about you? I thought you had a date with Mindy tonight."

He nodded, and walked over to the little ladder that led up to the top bunk, climbing up to sit beside me. "Yeah, I did, but she had to move it to earlier because she, Jasmine and Alexis were going out to dinner tonight. I don't think it's going to work out anyways, though," he said with a little laugh. "We're just too different."

I nodded in understanding, and then he continued. "What about you, though? What happened with Zane?"

Chazz and I had obviously become closer, because a few months ago, he would never have dared to ask anything about my personal life. But now, we told each other everything. I sighed as I tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind my ear. "I don't know what's been going on with him recently. I mean, we've been dating for almost two years now, but he's been acting like such a jerk lately. He was being really distant tonight, and when I tried to ask him what was wrong, he wouldn't answer me. When I pressed him more about it, he said... some really mean things, and called me a name or two, and then we sort of stomped off in opposite directions." I was almost ashamed to admit what had been happening recently with Zane and I. Before, we had been one of the happiest couples you'd ever seen, but things had just been falling apart recently.

Chazz nodded slowly in response. He seemed to be mulling over what I had said. Finally, he said, "Jessica, I know you two have been together a long time, but you can't let him keep treating you like that."

"I know," I said sadly. "I just kept hoping things would go back to the way they were before." I paused for a moment before continuing. "I think I need to break up with him. It's just that, we've been together for so long, I can't imagine not being with him, ya know?"

Chazz nodded in understanding, a sympathetic smile on his face. "I know it won't be easy for you, but I think it's the right thing for you to do. I'll be happy to help however I can."

"Thanks, Chazz," I said, leaning over to hug my friend. He wrapped his arms securely around me in return. "No problem."

When we had pulled apart, I said to him, "Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure, Jessica."

"Will you come with me tomorrow when I tell him I want to break up? I'm kind of scared of how he'll react to the news. I mean, before I never would have worried about something like that, but things are different now."

Chazz looked into my eyes with a determined expression on his face. "I'll be there. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything that he shouldn't."

I sighed in relief. "Thanks, Chazz. For everything."

"No problem," he said with a smile. He climbed down from my bunk and went back into the bathroom to change into his pajamas. Once he came back out, I went in and changed into my pajamas, as well. A few minutes later, he turned the lights out, and we both went to sleep.

The next day was a Saturday, so we didn't have any classes to worry about. I texted Zane at about 11:00 in the morning and asked him to meet me outside of the Obelisk dorms at 12:00. He answered with a simple "Ok."

About ten minutes before noon, Chazz and I got ready to leave the dorm. As I was pulling on my shoes, he must have noticed the nervous look on my face, because he asked a little hesitantly, "Jessica, are you alright?"

I nodded in response. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm definitely not looking forward to this, but it's long overdue and I've got to do it." My words were meant more for myself that Chazz; if this was ever going to work, I knew I needed to strengthen my resolve.

When we started getting close to the Obelisk dorms, I started getting butterflies in my stomach all over again. Chazz and I split up before Zane saw the two of us, so Chazz could circle around the back of the dorms and wait for me out of sight. He would stay close enough that he could hear our conversation, though, so he could come out if something bad happened.

When Zane came into view, casually leaning against the side of the dorm, I got more nervous than ever. When I walked up to him, he raised his eyes up from the ground to look at me. "Hey Jessica, what's up?" His tone was less cold that it had been last night, but he didn't seem to have any intention of apologizing for what he had said before.

"Oh, nothing much," I responded. I looked into his eyes for a moment, but soon broke contact, being too nervous to hold his gaze.

"Well, why did you want to meet me here then?" he asked impatiently.

I sighed. "Well, Zane, I know we've been dating for a long time. And at first everything was great, but now I kind of feel like we're... growing apart." I paused for a moment to steel my nerves for my next statement. "Zane, I think we need to break up."

For a moment, he just looked at me with his eyebrows raised in an expression of disbelief. When he finally spoke, he said, "You're breaking up with me?"

I nodded once, afraid my voice would fail me if I tried to talk. Then Zane's eyes grew dark and he frowned angrily. He reached out and grabbed my wrist to keep me from moving away. "No, there's no way that _you're_ breaking up with _me_. I am so far above you, and you need me."

His grip on my wrist had tightened to a painful level. I winced, but managed to keep my voice calm when I said, "Zane, you're hurting me."

He made no move to let go, though. "I don't care. And we're going to stay together for as long as I want us to, got it?"

Just as I was starting to panic, Chazz stepped out from around the side of the dorm. "Let her go, Zane," he said warningly.

Zane glanced up at Chazz and then got a nasty smirk on his face, still not letting me go. "Oh, I see what's going on here." He moved his eyes from Chazz back to me. "You've gotten together with your little roommate, and now you don't think you need me any more."

I felt more confident now that Chazz was within my sight, and I glared at my boyfriend. I couldn't keep out the bitter tone in my answer. "That's not how it is at all, Zane. Chazz and I aren't together, but he is my friend, and he cares about me. Which is more than I can say for you."

That last statement made Zane angry, and he pulled back his right fist, seeming to prepare to punch me. I quickly blocked my face with the arm he wasn't holding as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to defend myself. But I never felt the blow. What I did feel was Zane's hand being yanked away from my wrist, and when I opened my eyes again, I saw that Chazz had intercepted his fist.

Chazz had Zane pinned up against the wall of the dorms, looking more angry than I had ever seen him before. Zane seemed so shocked that he wasn't resisting.

"Listen to me well, because I won't repeat myself," Chazz seethed. "If you _ever_ try to hurt her or even come near her again, you will have me to deal with. And trust me, that is not something you want."

He continued to hold Zane's shoulders pinned to the wall for another minute, glaring threateningly, before shoving him to the side. "Come on, Jessica," he said, never taking his eyes off of Zane.

I quickly moved to his side where he put his arm over my shoulders, and we turned away to walk back to our own dorm. On the way back, we both glanced over our shoulders pretty often to make sure that Zane wasn't following us. Chazz was clearly pissed off, but stayed quiet until we were safely back in our dorm. When he shut and locked the door behind us, he started to talk.

"Are you okay, Jessica?" he asked gently.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm okay."

He led me over to his bed and sat me down, then sat next to me. "Here, let me see your arm."

I held out my arm to him, and he took it tenderly in his hands. He stroked my hurt wrist softly with one of his thumbs as he inspected it. "I think it's probably gonna bruise some. Argh, when did Zane get to be such an ass?" He put my arm down on the bed beside me.

"He didn't touch you anywhere else, did he?" I shook my head no. He nodded and them put one of his hands on my shoulder, a serious look on his face. "I know that was hard for you, but you did a good job."

I smiled a little at his compliment. "Thanks, Chazz."

Suddenly, he pulled me into a hug unexpectedly. After a moment, I put my arms around him as well. In his protective embrace, with my head resting on his shoulder, I couldn't hold it in any more. I started to cry.

Once Chazz took note of my sobs, he shifted me in his arms so that my head was resting on his chest. He rubbed one of his hands comfortingly up and down my back, patiently waiting for me to stop crying.

I don't know how long I stayed like that in his arms, but eventually, I stopped crying and pulled back from his embrace. He gave me a small smile when he saw my tearstained face, wiping a few remaining tears off my cheeks with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "I know we had to break up, it's just that we were together for so long, and I really did care about him..."

Chazz nodded in understanding. "I know. Just remember, I'll be here for you for whatever you need, okay?"

I managed a small smile and nodded at him.

The rest of the day, Chazz and I just hung out in our dorm, not doing much of anything. He probably would have had more fun out with his other friends, but being sweet and true to his word, he stayed with me the whole time. Maybe he was worried that, if he left, Zane would come to the room while I was alone.

When it was time to go to bed and Chazz was about to go flip the light switch, I asked a question I'd been considering for about half an hour. "Hey, Chazz?"

He paused, not yet turning the lights off. "Yeah?"

"Um, this is kind of a weird request, and I won't be upset if you say no, but... could I sleep with you in your bed tonight?" My face was bright red by the time I finished my question. I didn't want Chazz to think that I was using him or anything, I just wanted someone close to me so that I wouldn't feel so alone.

His face turned red too when he answered. "Uh, yeah, sure."

I smiled at him. "Thanks. I just don't want to be alone, is all." He nodded in response and turned the lights off.

After he climbed into the bottom bunk, he motioned for me to join him, and I did. Each bunk was only meant for one person, so we had to stay pretty close together. To make things easier, Chazz went ahead and wrapped his arms around me in a warm embrace. I snuggled up next to his body, happy to have such a caring friend.

Suddenly, he broke the silence with a small laugh. "What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing, really," he said. "I was just wondering what Crowler would think about putting the two of us in the same dorm if he could see us now." I laughed, too, amused by the image I had in my head of a shocked-looking Crowler. After that, we both soon drifted off to sleep in each others' arms.

For the next few weeks, Chazz continued to comfort me about Zane when we were alone in the dorm. When we were out around campus, he acted as a sort of bodyguard to me, glaring at Zane if my ex ever came anywhere near me. Not wanting to impose on Chazz any more than I already had, I returned to my own bad after the first night. And as the days went on, I slowly started to get over not being with Zane anymore. I was still pretty upset, but as they say, hindsight's always 20-20, and now that we were through, I could see that we had had even more problems than I thought we did when I broke up with him.

I was pleasantly surprised by how patient Chazz was with me through the whole process. He had to have gotten tired of hearing me talk about Zane, but he listened to it all politely and tried to offer advice, never once complaining. When I voiced my thoughts about this to Jaden one day, he laughed as if he knew something I didn't.

"Hey, what's so funny?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious, Jessica?" I just looked at him confused, so he continued. "The reason Chazz is being so nice to you is because he really likes you."

"What?" I said surprised, my face turning a little red. "No way, Jaden, you're wrong. Chazz and I are just good friends, that's all."

"I'm not saying you two aren't friends. And when he told you that you needed to break up with Zane, I definitely think he was talking to you as a friend, because it was obvious to even me that you and Zane were having problems. But, I'm saying that the reason he's so patient all the time is because he has a massive crush on you."

I blushed even more. "You really think so?"

Jaden nodded confidently. "I know so." Then he smirked a little. "The question is, how do you feel about him?"

I realized right then that I had no idea what the answer to Jaden's question was. How did I feel about Chazz? The whole time we'd been roommates, I had never once asked myself that question because I had been dating Zane. But, now that we were through, was there a possibility for something else?

Before I got to thinking too hard, I thought of another flaw in Jaden's theory. "Hey Jaden, if Chazz likes me like you say he does, then why hasn't he said anything about it?"

Jaden shrugged his shoulders in response. "I dunno, there are several possibilities. First off, he's probably worried about hurting you guys' friendship, especially since you're roommates and you have to live with each other. He also probably thinks that you're not completely over Zane yet, and from what I've seen, that's true." I nodded my head in confirmation. Even though I knew now that Zane was a jerk, it's not easy to completely and instantly stop caring about the guy you'd been with for almost two years.

"And of course," Jaden finished, "He's probably also afraid of rejection."

I nodded my head in response, wondering if what Jaden said about Chazz could possibly be true. I mean, Chazz had definitely been super sweet to me recently, and since Jaden was a guy, he probably understood what was going through Chazz's head better that I did. 'Maybe, just maybe,' I thought, 'Jaden isn't completely insane.'

"Well then, what should I do Jaden?" I asked, completely at a loss.

"I dunno, Jessica. First, you've gotta decide how you feel about him."

I nodded my head a bit reluctantly, knowing that Jaden was right. Then I stood up from the bench we'd been sitting on. "Thanks for your help, Jay." I reached down and gave him a quick hug, which he returned. "No problem. Good luck with everything!" I smiled and nodded at him. Then I left to go back to my dorm, hoping to figure out what Chazz's feelings were for me and what my feelings were for him.

When I had gotten back to the room and shut the door behind myself, I noticed that Chazz was in the room sitting on his bed. He looked up at me when I came in. "Hey, where were you?" he asked.

"Just hanging out with Jaden," I replied. He nodded his head and smiled at me a little, but now that I was being extra-vigilant around him, I thought I noticed a hint of something else in his eyes. 'Is that jealousy?' I wondered to myself. Chazz certainly had nothing to worry about regarding competition from Jaden, considering that the boy was in love with Alexis, so maybe I had just imagined it.

"You didn't run into Truesdale out there, did you?"

"Nope. He was nowhere to be seen."

Chazz nodded. "Good."

For the rest of the afternoon and that night, I carefully took note of Chazz's behavior towards me to see if there was any truth in Jaden's musings. Several times, I caught him looking at me with a faraway look on his face when he thought I couldn't see him. When he asked me how I was feeling about Zane and I said that I was slowly but surely getting over him, he seemed overly-happy about it. And when he hugged me just before we went off to bed, he lingered a good bit longer than good manners dictated.

So, I concluded that Jaden wasn't insane after all. Chazz Princeton did, indeed, like me as more than a friend.

That night when I was lying in bed, I couldn't sleep. Chazz's even breathing below told me that he had drifted off long ago. I still didn't know if I had any romantic feelings for him or not. I mean, he was definitely a good guy, who was always kind to me and protective over me. But if there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that romance seldom makes sense. How did I know if these good qualities of Chazz's were enough to make me like him?

I sighed in frustration, and climbed down the bunk bed ladder so I could go to the bathroom. On my way back to the ladder, I paused next to the head of Chazz's bed and looked at him.

I smiled slightly at his peaceful expression, all traces of his former anger at Zane erased in his sleep. Looking at him now, I knew there was no question that he was beautiful. His spiky mass of jet-black hair contrasted perfectly to his porcelain white skin. His angular jaw gave his face a strong look, and now that I had a chance to look closely, I saw that even his eyebrows were perfect.

I barely caught myself in time to snatch my hand back to keep from touching Chazz's face while he slept. I blushed at my involuntary motion, though there had been no one to witness it. And as I climbed back up to my bunk, I knew for sure that I thought of Chazz as more than a friend. Now my only question was, once again, what was I going to do about it?

For the next week, I sort of played a waiting game with Chazz, hoping for him to make the first move. I had, by now, confirmed beyond all doubt that Chazz liked me, and when I told Jaden that I had decided I liked Chazz back, Jaden didn't seem surprised by my confession at all. He did, however, continually pester me about telling Chazz the truth.

"Have you told him yet?" he asked, the same as every other day that week.

I sighed. "No, Jaden. I told you, I'm waiting for him to make the first move."

"He might not make it though, Jessica! He's probably super-nervous about it!"

"I know, but I've been trying to make it clear to him that I like him back, and he still hasn't done anything!" I was telling the truth, too. For the past several days, I'd been doing things like nuzzling against Chazz's neck more when he hugged me, playing with his hair a little, and once I even kissed him on the cheek! But, he still hadn't responded in the form of telling me he liked me.

"Well then, he's obviously not gonna tell you first, so you've got to do it! No seriously, leave! Now! Go get your man!" He smiled at me as he gave me a playful, but none too gentle, shove in the direction of my dorm.

"Alright, alright, I'm going! Wish me luck, Jaden!"

As I started walking back to my and Chazz's dorm, I started getting butterflies in my stomach yet again. Would I really have the courage to tell him what I was feeling? What if Jaden and I were somehow wrong, and he didn't feel the same way? I quickly shook my head to clear out such thoughts. 'Just don't overthink it.' I thought to myself. 'Everything will be fine. Oh, crap! I'm almost to the dorm!'

I hesitated for a moment once I got to our door, and then, after gathering my resolve, opened it with probably more force than I needed to use.

But I can't say I was entirely prepared for what I saw when I entered the room.

There was Chazz Princeton, my unfairly gorgeous roommate, standing in front of me without a shirt on.

Now I'd seen Chazz shirtless several times before; considering that we'd roomed together for months and that there was a beach nearby, it happened pretty often. But since this was the first time I'd seen him shirtless since I'd started feeling differently towards him, this time wasn't the same. I couldn't help but stare at his bare torso. He was pale, but it suited him well. He wasn't overly bulky or too thin, and I could just see the outline of abs on his stomach. His shoulders weren't too broad or too close together, so he looked strong without seeming huge. In short, he looked perfect.

All these thoughts ran through my head in the few seconds I had before he smiled at me and starting to talk, reminding me to move my eyes up to his face. "Oh, hey Jessica. I spilled some soda on my other shirt, so I came back here to change into a different one," he explained with a small laugh.

I nodded my head, but made no other response. My eyes had wandered back to his stomach, and I could feel myself blushing like crazy. The room seemed about 10 degrees hotter than it had a few seconds ago. Unfortunately, Chazz noticed my change in demeanor.

He put down the shirt in his hands that he had been about to put on and walked over to me. "Are you feeling alright, Jessica? You seen a little... uneasy." I could see the concern in his eyes. He placed one hand casually on my waist and put the back of his other hand against my forehead. "You feel pretty warm, too," he noted. He was so close that I could feel his warm breath against my own lips.

"I-I'm fine, Chazz," I said, stuttering because of his close proximity. As if I wasn't warm enough on my own, I could practically feel the body heat radiating off of his nearby chest.

"No, I think you should lay down for a minute. Here, my bed's closer." He motioned for me to lay down on his bed, but I shook my head no. Unable to hold it in anymore, I drew a shaky breath. "Chazz, there's something you need to know."

"Okay," he said, dropping his hand from my forehead, "what is it?"

I looked into his eyes. They were honest and caring, but I couldn't help my nerves. "Chazz, I love you."

That stopped him in his tracks for a minute. He stood there frozen, not moving or saying a word. Just as I was starting to fear that I was wrong about him liking me, a smile broke out over his face.

He looked tenderly into my eyes. "God, Jessica, you have no idea how wonderful it is to hear you say that. I love you, too."

I just had time to grin at him before he lowered his lips onto mine in a passionate kiss. I was overjoyed at his response, quickly kissing back and putting my arms around his neck. As his hands went to rest on my hips, I started to play with his hair. He moaned slightly and ran his tongue along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I immediately let him in, tilting my head to the side a little to give him better access.

As he began to explore my mouth, I moved my hands to his bare chest, slowly rubbing down to the bottom of his torso and then back up. He groaned in response to my action, seeming to enjoy the caress. At the noise that he made, I couldn't help but sigh happily. The feel of his lightly muscled body under my fingertips was wonderful.

Eventually, much to both of our disappointment, we had to pull away for air. We both just looked into each other's eyes for a minute, gasping for breath. His eyes were full of love and happiness, as I know mine must have been, too.

After a moment, he pulled me into a hug with my head resting on his shoulder and his arms around my waist. His warm body was now fully pressed to mine. I ran my hands up and down his back, enjoying the opportunity to touch more of his exposed skin.

A minute later, he pulled his head back just enough to look me in the eyes. "Jessica?" he asked, still slightly out of breath.

"Yes?"

"Would you do me the honor of becoming my girlfriend? I promise I would always protect you and take care of you." He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it.

I couldn't help the huge smile that broke out across my face at his question and charming gesture. "Of course, Chazz! I'd love to!"

With a beaming smile, he picked me up and spun me around a few times while I laughed before setting me back on the ground. Then we were both quiet for a minute, before I started to laugh again.

"What is it?" he asked, smiling down at me.

I smiled back at him. "I was just thinking that now, Crowler would _really_ regret putting us in the same dorm."

Chazz chuckled at my statement. "Yeah, he'd probably die of shock."

And then, he leaned down to press his lips back to mine for a gentler, more tender kiss.


End file.
